LNP disendorses Deagon Ward candidate Brock Alexander over ‘past comments’
Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner has slammed now-disendorsed LNP candidate Brock Alexander saying he sparked a ‘frustrating and concerning’ saga weeks out from an election.
QLD Council Elections
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A Brisbane City Council election candidate disendorsed over not disclosing past comments, denies attacking the Morcombe family and separately posting a racial slur on social media.
Deagon Ward candidate Brock Alexander, who only lasted 11 days, has ongoing stalking charges against him in Sandgate Magistrates Court and says he told the LNP about them prior to being endorsed, which the LNP denies.
Mr Alexander says that because he had informed the party of this, he did not disclose details of negative Google business reviews he had written – one of which he claims triggered his disendorsement – because he didn’t believe they were “important”.
But LNP Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner laid the blame squarely on Mr Alexander on Wednesday, saying he first heard about the former candidate’s charges on Tuesday night.
“There were forms and documentation provided that had none of the information that we are talking about on them, and then there were questions asked directly to the former candidate and those questions were not answered truthfully,” Mr Schrinner said.
Late on Tuesday afternoon, the LNP announced Mr Alexander’s disendorsement ahead of the March 16 election.
“The decision was made because of past comments that were not previously disclosed and do not align with our party’s values,” the statement read.
Speaking to The Courier-Mail on Tuesday night, Mr Alexander said the party raised concerns on Monday and he claims he was disendorsed over a three-week-old Google review.
“I wrote a review of the BP service station at Sandgate, I described an incident I had, and I described the owner as ‘foreign’,” he said.
“They said to me that is racist. This has been going on since yesterday (Monday), and today (Tuesday) they had a meeting and disendorsed me.
“I didn’t disclose my Google review because I didn’t think calling someone a ‘foreign owner’ was important.
“It’s all very disappointing.”
Mr Alexander also spoke openly about his ongoing court matters.
“I verbally told them about the (stalking) charges in Sandgate, due to their nature. They have been going for over two years. I also disclosed my traffic history,” he said.
“The stalking charges stem from a neighbourhood dispute I had. I have pleaded not guilty and I’m currently awaiting a trial.”
Facebook screenshots are circulating within political circles and were aired on Tuesday night by Nine News, showing comments written by an account using the name “Brock Alexander”.
Two comments relate to Bruce and Denise Morcombe and Daniel’s disappearance.
“Why did they send their 12yo son on his own to the shops? On the side of a busy highway. Worst parents,” one comment read.
“Daniel never came home because his parents allowed a 13yo child on the side of a highway,” another said.
A further screenshot shows what appears to be the same account commenting on a separate post in response to another user: “You’re a dirty abo.”
Mr Alexander denies writing any of them.
“I reject the Morcombe comments … I never made any comments like that,” he said.
“I refute that (alleged ‘abo’ comment) … I’m not racist, I have friends who are Indigenous.”
Mr Schrinner said police checks and social media digging are part of the LNP’s vetting process.
“There were a range of comments that were not consistent with the party values or my team values,” the Lord Mayor said, hinting that the Google review was not the only factor.
Mr Schrinner said if the party had known about Mr Alexander’s pending charges, he would never have been endorsed as a candidate.
“This is a very frustrating, upsetting and concerning situation,” the Lord Mayor said.
“The party is definitely looking into this and there is more information that keeps coming to light, so I have no doubt they will continue to evolve their processes to make sure that they learn from this, this is something we have all learnt a lot from.”
Mr Schrinner said he had one “very brief meeting” with Mr Alexander and a 10-15 minute “general discussion” with him.
“It’s concerning that someone could go to such great lengths to misrepresent themselves, hide information and not be upfront when it comes to the questions they were asked,” he said.
“It has been shown that this person has not been truthful and has a credibility issue, so that is the lens through which you have to look at claims made by this person.
Mr Alexander said he feels the LNP has “let him down”.
“The party has discriminated against my freedom of speech,” he said.
“I was doing them a favour by putting my hand up, they asked me to be a candidate and they refunded my $2000 candidate fee.
“They’ve done this to themselves, I told them ‘don’t disendorse me … you’ll find out’ and look at what has happened.”
Mr Schrinner said Mr Alexander’s claim that the party had discriminated against his right to free speech “is a ludicrous statement” and that the LNP “believes in free speech”.
Mr Alexander said the party told him to delete his negative online reviews and his Facebook account prior to Tuesday afternoon’s statement.
Mr Alexander said he has only been a member of the LNP for a few weeks and his membership has been suspended.
The Labor Party described Mr Alexander’s public statements as “horrendous”.
“It’s shameful Adrian Schrinner and the LNP put this hand-picked person forward as someone they thought would be best to represent our community,” the party said.
“The LNP should be ashamed they are now left without a candidate in the Deagon Ward.”
Mr Alexander said he plans to run as an independent candidate in the next federal election.
His council candidate profile was deleted from the Team Schrinner website, but The Courier-Mail was able to retrieve it.
“Brock was born and raised as a bayside local and is committed to giving back to the community he loves,” the now-deleted profile said.
“A dedicated volunteer, Brock has assisted Rotary Clubs and op shops, participated in flood recovery efforts, and provided a helping hand to assist members of the community with yard work and small tasks when they can no longer manage it on their own.
“Brock has a wide array of professional experience from working in management, IT and trade roles, as well as completing a trade apprenticeship.
“He is currently undertaking a pharmacy degree at the University of Queensland. He also operates a small business with his family.
“Brock is passionate about protecting the lifestyle and delivering the services Deagon Ward residents’ needs.”
All of these allegations have been to the LNP, and it has indicated it will provide a response.
The Deagon Ward is held by Labor council opposition leader Jared Cassidy, who has represented the area in Brisbane’s northeast since 2015.
Mr Cassidy retained his seat at the 2020 local government elections with more than 51 per cent of the vote. The next closest was the LNP’s Kimberley Washington with almost 35 per cent.
The electorate includes the suburbs of Boondall, Brighton, Deagon, Sandgate, Shorncliffe, Taigum, most of Geebung and Zillmere and parts of Virginia.
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